


Wish I Could Be

by ami_ven



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - The Little Mermaid Fusion, Community: writerverse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:47:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23196547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ami_ven/pseuds/ami_ven
Summary: “I’m sure it’s very hard to pantomimeI’m really a mermaid.”
Relationships: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard
Comments: 14
Kudos: 93





	Wish I Could Be

**Author's Note:**

> Written for LJ community "writerverse" prompts "knowing" and " _The Little Mermaid_ " (bonus: AU)

There was a moment of ringing silence, broken only by the rumble of thunder from the retreating storm. Rodney clung to the broken timbers of driftwood that had once been part of his ship, breathing heavily. “So, we’re alive?”

Beside him, John kept afloat easily. “Yeah.”

“You can talk now!” said Rodney.

John leaned back, raising his dark tail above the water. “ _That’s_ the part that surprises you?”

“Well, it certainly explains a few things. I’m sure it’s very hard to pantomime _I’m really a mermaid_.”

“Mer _man_ , actually,” John corrected. “And I wanted to tell you! At least, I didn’t mean to keep it a secret. But I thought it wouldn’t matter, because if I had managed to get you to kiss me, I’d have stayed human.”

Rodney blinked. “What?”

“You fly, Rodney,” said John – and hearing him say Rodney’s name made his heart beat faster again. “I’ve watched you, with your machines. All my life, I’ve looked up at the sky, the clouds and the stars, and you can _fly_.”

“None of my machines have actually flown,” Rodney protested. “I crashed – and you rescued me,” he added, realizing. “That was you.”

“I’ve watched you,” John repeated. “I made a deal with the sea wizard, Kolya. My voice for legs. If you had kissed me by midnight of the third day, I would have stayed human.”

“I didn’t know,” said Rodney. “I didn’t – if you wanted to be human, I would have helped.”

John smiled, a little sadly, his tail swishing in the water. “I know,” he said. “But it wasn’t just a kiss. You had to – the spell was – you had to have, um, feelings. For me.”

“Oh,” said Rodney. 

“Yeah,” said John, who seemed to take that as an answer. “Thank you, though. For everything. Being human, with you, was just as cool as I thought it would be. And now that Kolya’s dead, it doesn’t matter anymore. I’ll, um, I’ll take you back to shore, and you can get back to your life. I mean, Sora was working for Kolya, so your wedding’s off, but—”

“No!” Rodney interrupted. “No, I mean, _yes_ , the wedding’s off, but I can’t just go back. Not without you.”

“I’m a merman, Rodney,” said John.

He raised his tail again, fins sweeping above the waves. This time, the storm had moved far enough that the sun was beginning to shine, catching on John’s scales. In the water, his tail looked black but in the light, it shone multicolored.

He was beautiful.

Rodney reached out, brushing his fingertips along the scales. They were warm to the touch, but John shivered at the contact. “Rodney,” breathed John.

“This doesn’t have to change anything,” Rodney said. “We can refit the palace. I can build you some kind of suit – no tail-to-legs won’t work. I’ll build _myself_ a suit, I’ve been working on an underwater air processor and… what?”

“You want to stay with me?” John asked.

“Of course,” said Rodney. “If… if you want me.”

“Want you?” repeated John. “Rodney…”

He didn’t seem to have the words, but he surged forward with one powerful flick of his tail, to cup both hands around Rodney’s face and pull him in for a kiss.

“I want you to stay,” said John. “I do, but I can’t. I can’t, I—”

“But perhaps you can,” said a voice.

“Mother!” cried John, whirling. His hand slid to Rodney’s shoulder, holding tight.

“Mother?” Rodney repeated.

The merwoman smiled. She was dark-haired, like John, and her tail was a deep red. Fabric of a similar color, woven with gold, draped over her chest, amid ropes of gold and seashells, and a delicate golden crown sat in her hair. In one hand, she held a golden scepter, topped with three points.

“I…” John said again. Rodney reached for his hand, squeezing his wrist, and the merman smiled, then said, “This is my mother, Queen Elizabeth of Atlantis. Mother, this is Prince Rodney McKay, of Lantea.”

“Um, hi,” said Rodney, still clinging to his driftwood, and the queen smiled.

“I did not know you felt so strongly, John,” she said, softly. “But if you love this man, and he loves you, then there is magic that can be done.”

“Magic?” Rodney scoffed

John snorted. “I had legs an hour ago, Rodney.”

“Right.”

Elizabeth laughed. She slid two thin chains from her neck and pressed them to her scepter. Both glowed for a moment, and when the light faded, blue jewels hung from the chains.

“If you wear these, you will be able to walk on the land and swim in the sea.” She paused. “John, I know how much you have longed for the sky. Go with your prince.”

“Really?” said John. He released Rodney to hug his mother, and she pressed the jewels into his hand. “Thank you!”

The queen smiled. “Atlantis will always be your home, John. You are both welcome there.”

“Wait,” said Rodney. “That will let me have a tail? Gimme!”

John laughed, a horrible braying noise that Rodney loved instantly. “We should go back to Lantea,” he said. “My sister Teyla is next in line to the throne of Atlantis, and you have a principality to run.”

“Right,” said Rodney. “I… right?”

“We’ll come visit soon,” John told his mother. She waved regally, then turned and dove back beneath the waves. John watched the spot for a moment, then swam back to Rodney and slid both chains over his own head. “You can have yours when we’re on dry land again.”

He took hold of Rodney’s driftwood raft, pushing him toward the shore. Rodney’s feet hit the sand and he stumbled upright, turning back to John – and froze.

John’s dark tail glowed, then faded into legs, the clinging water droplets coalescing into a wrap of sparkling fabric around his hips.

“Human,” he breathed. He wriggled his toes in the sand, then grabbed Rodney for a fierce kiss. “I’m human!”

“For now,” said Rodney, and kissed him again – and wondered what _his_ tail would look like.

THE END


End file.
